Hearth & Home House of Lords

Another fine English blend from Russ O. Reminds me of the Dunhill bulk offerings we had in the 70's. As much as I like Admiralty I like this one even better as it is a little fuller in taste. Packs and burns well. If you are an English fan, here you go.

The Cyprian latakia is smoky, woody sweet and is the star that the other components play off of. The Virginias are grassy with a little citrus in a support role. The Oriental/Turkish is woody, buttery sweet, slightly dry with a mild hint of spice that isn't always evident as a third player. The nic-hit is just past mild. Won't bite or get harsh. Burns clean and cool at a moderate pace with some creaminess. Leaves just a little moisture in the bowl, but no dottle, and requires an average number of relights. It has a nice start, but the flavors muddle a little in the last third of the bowl, and makes the mixture less complex than it was. Even still, it's a decent starter English blend.

-JimInks

I found this tobacco on first bowl to be a blend of thirds. The first third was fairly nice, with Virginias and orientals in the front. The second third was overpoweringly spicy, with the perique and latakia in an unholy alliance. The bottom was a disappointment, just a muddy latakia dump with no other flavors. At the least, more interesting than some one note blends, but there are many blends that develop where each third has some positive redeeming characteristic... I only liked the first third.

This blend is lightly darker than the Admiralty, but still much lighter in colour than Armada or Ten to Midnight. It's another classic English mixture, a little less balanced and smooth than the Admiralty but still belonging to the tradition; the Virginias here are darker and the latakia is more present, giving the blend a fuller spicy flavour. A great afternoon blend.

A relatively mild English style smoke. Very tasty. I generally prefer somewhat stronger English styles, such as Dunhill's 965 and Perfection. My tin came slightly on the dry side, ready to smoke, but probably needs to be humidified shortly. When I'm looking for a milder English, this is a good one. I give 965 and Perfection 4's, and House of Lords gets a 3.

House of Lords begins by showcasing the Orientals, (Smyna maybe??) and as described, seems to produce a large volume of smoke. HOL for the most part thought is a fairly pedestrian blend. Yes, it’s a good tobacco, but undistinguished, especially considering the many and often very good English blends made by Russ Ouellette. For me, the spice shows up about mid-bowl and remains till the end of the bowl. It isn’t overly spicy, but just enough to let me know that it’s there. The Virginia tobaccos don’t offer much in the way of sweetness. There is an ample amount of Latakia in HOL that seems to kick in about the same time the smoke offers some spice. I am not sure when Russ developed this, but my guess is that it was earlier on in his blending career as it isn’t as complex as some of his later blends. I have smoked it new and with about 3 years of age on it, and while there are some changes, they are not drastic by any means. House of Lords is a solid, straightforward English blend. It just isn’t memorable.

I found this sour, bite-y, with too much perique (I am over-sensitive to perique, I think, so bear that in mind if you will) or something that makes me think there's too much perique. Latakia is there, sure, and so are Virginias. The flavors didn't seem to want to be with each other, though. If someone wanted to try an English blend, I wouldn't recommend they start with this one.

This has become my "dog-walking, don't want to have to fiddle about with my pipe because my dog is a highly strung eejit and demands all my attention" tobacco. It has a nice balance to it. Not as smoky and beefy as some of the English blends that go a bit heavier on the Latakia, but it strikes a nice balance. Packs easily, burns evenly and leaves no dottle, just fine white ash. Nice job again Russ! (and a great price point too!!)

This is another good medium English blend by Russ. It is not as well balanced as Daybreak, which is my favorite of his blends - so far. This one is a little darker in color than Daybreak, has a smokier flavor due to the larger amount of Latakia, and tastes similar to smoked jerky or pemmican. It goes well with tea, beer, coffee, scotch, etc. If you are a Latakia fan, this should please your palate! It burns slow, produces some thick, rich clouds of smoke, and smokes great in any pipe. If you are just beginning to sample English blends, this is a good introduction to them; not as good as Daybreak, but still good!

I Was Recently Given About 4 Ounces On This Tobacco From A Fellow Pipe Smoker (Who Found It Too Mild For His Taste), And Here Are My Opinions:

Overall, A Very Mild Tobacco, But Something Seemed To Be Lacking.

It Seemed A Little Flat In The "Middle"...Something Just Didn't Feel Right.

As An Experiment, I Proceded To Take 2 Ounces Of The Tobacco, And I Added 1/2 An Ounce Of Perique, Just To See If It Would Round It Out Better.

After Some Trials By Myself And Other Pipe Smokers (Including The Gentleman Who Gifted Me The Tobacco In The First Place), We Decided That The Perique Cooled The Smoke, And Filled The "Missing" Parts Quite Nicely.